IS CB RADIO AS GOOD AS IT USED TO BE?!!

On a bit of a nostalgia trip in this video we take a look at a modern CB radio for 2023, this cool handheld radio is called T-X and it comes from a UK company called Thunderpole who have been a big player in the UK CB scene right from the beggining.
Thunderpole have not sponsored this video other than providing the sample for free but I wanted to help them out as I really love their new radio.
So what's CB like in 2023 then? Let's find out!
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[@MaryContrary0]

I met my husband through CB radio in the 80’s, we’ve been married 34 years now 😁

[@ramadaxl]

I met my ex wife on CB....at the wedding when her father gave his speech he told everybody ( in case they didn't already know ) that his daughter and I had met on the CB...then he continued on by saying that he'd been jumping feet first on it since !

[@craigsaunders3532]

So many memories, was absolutely brilliant times, 1983 first cb was an Amstrad 901 with a di-pole on a 15ft scaffy in the back garden and 50watt burner, passed car test in 87 and that was it, escort mk2 1600 sport midland 2001 and 100watt burner (so many flat batteries) and a mag mount. Met my first wife on the CB. All my mates had them in cars we had a scream, so many fun times, wish i could turn the clock back.

[@musoseven8218]

I hear you, wish I could go back to those times too, we had 'em in our cars and as base stations etc. AM was the best fun✌️🤞👍😊💜

[@chrisliddiard725]

... and then mobile phones happened. enough said.

[@derrickmanning2597]

Title heads up from an old breaker,19 is not the calling channel! 14 is! And that's what killed it. All the kids with a cb chattering about school and boyfriends/girlfriends! The guys who needed the channel ,truckers mainly,had to put up with inane rubbish every day,it got so bad a lot of us used ch9 out of desperation which went against everything us old hands did. I started with a midland straight 40 and a dx27 twig. I gave up when the government decided we could have 27fm legally with a licence,and then it died,we had a good relationship with the local police when we were on the illegal am radios,helping them on searches for kids that hadn't come home etc or a person who's head was in a bad place. We would go out in a team of about 10-15 cars and work with the police to find them,most of the time successfully. Once the kids and idiots started we just gave up,some stayed with sidebanding for international copies but other than that nothing,I've still got my old midland from about 15 years ago as I thought it may have improved but it's not a patch on the old days. Sad really,my son does ham radio and hes trying to get me on it as well which I may try. Oh and i met my wife on there too,ladybird,been together 41 years until she passed away feb. Anyway,3's and 8's to all old breakers,10 10 til we do it again,shadow down and gone!

[@BryanTorok]

@@derrickmanning2597 I do recommend giving Ham Radio a try. I'm not bashing CB or GMRS, both fine and those might also suit you depending on what you are looking for. Ham Radio takes a bit more effort to get the license, but there are so many bands, modes, and aspects to ham radio. And, there are so many really different groups. If you don't like one, try another.

[@MrMagsimus]

@craigsaunders3532 yeh bro u bring back memories, had one in my Ford capri 2.0s fishnet recaro seats , big ass bendy antenna and shouting on the side side “ breaker 19 for a copy what’s your handle lol ❤❤❤❤

[@Furball2k]

Good to hear! I live in California and I've always had a CB under the dash in my truck. I've often considered taking the radio out because I never used it. Until a few years ago while driving across the desert to visit friends in Arizona I came across a roll over accident. Other motorists had stopped but none of us had cell service in this area because it was so remote. However, I was able to contact CA Highway Patrol on my radio and get help. Even if I never encounter this situation again I will always keep a radio on hand as an emergency backup.

[@LincsEnigma]

This brings back so many memories from the 80s, brilliant times when people helped each other out. Saving a young lad's life back in the early 80s after he rolled his car, with the nearest phone box being miles away, having lots of fun doing WALLEY hunts, chatting to others miles away when the skip was bad, and not being able to call someone just up the road. Happy memories and fun times, when people helped each other out.

[@PhilMozchops1974]

Remember getting a cb in 1984.. 14 was the calling channel and 19 then was used by truckers, then gat taken over by everyone. Great memories. Thanks Andy

[@glennfryer1539]

Yep 14 was the breaking channel .. 19 for the Truckers....

[@MopH3ad]

84, you missed the best bits 😛😛😛😛

[@dean-gm1lg]

14 on AM 19 on FM if my memory serves me correctly

[@Ass_Burgers_Syndrome]

@@dean-gm1lg UK FM was 14 for calling, 19 was the trucker channel

[@Strange_Club]

@@dean-gm1lg 14 was more widely used than 19 of FM round here.

[@mattkinsella9856]

My Dad had a CB in his car for most of the 80s. Unfortunately he passed away last year and I'd have loved to share this video with him but still brought back great memories.

[@Thinks-First]

This brings back great memories of the 80's when I would stay at the house with the base station and my brother would get on his bike and ride as far as he can before going out of range. So much fun and magical.We were just kids exploring the mysteries of the world. Now we have our own homes and lives in neighboring towns but decided to get back into CB by putting up base station antennas at our homes and buying the new FM capable SSB/AM CBs on the market. We still have our Ham licenses so we may get the one that also has 10 meters. The magic never goes away. Who knows, maybe the kids will get into it.

[@papotorres9064]

Hi , 73s , Unit 21 here , my home channel is CH 23 , and CH 9 , I am in Brooklyn NY , and I talk everyday to Puerto Rico on CH 9 from Brooklyn , with a window antenna " Hustler" ,during hurricane Maria I was in PR with no electricity for 3 months , so I had to use a car battery and a Astron 99 base ant very low in height , with a very small radio , and I made it to the USA with that setup , so I would say that CB for me worked very good in a time of need when the cell service was down , 5 stations in the USA picked me up and took my info , and called my aunt in NYC to let her know I was ok , so CB for me will never die , I wish all cars came with CB radios , that would be so much fun , I have had so much fun since my childhood with this , so sad todays kids are missing out on this , every time my grandkids come over I give them the mic and they have a blast talking on it . 73s from Unit 21 (WP4WF on HAM BANDS and WREJ-401 on GMRS ) the sky is the limit take advantage of free internet communications out there . Alfred unit 21 on ch 23 /9 73s

[@NotMarkKnopfler]

When I was into CBs (early 80s) - channel 14 was the general "pickup" channel - channel 19 was for truckers and mobile people. Channel 9 was for emergencies. You'd go on channel 14 and say "one for for a copy" 🙂When you got someone you'd say "pick a window" (i.e. pick a channel) and of you'd go for chat! Happy fun days. The channels were packed. Sometimes you'd just sit and listen to people arguing!

[@jase1uk]

27 was also a breaking channel if I remember correctly used mostly by planks 😂

[@janegerrard1073]

I'm sure it used to be 14 for breaking and the truckers used 19. Then everyone went away, the farms bought PMR, hauliers got vodafone, small businesses got SBR. CB was good it worked everywhere, still can't get a decent mobile signal.

[@awotnot]

Yeah 14

[@peterfisher3829]

definitely 14 as the calling channel, and 19 for truckers, and was not 09 used as the emergency channel ?

[@stevechard3860]

Yeh 1-4 for a copy, or 1-9 for a copy for the truckers and channel 9 was the emergency channel 😁

[@simonbaldwin69]

Where I grew up it was Channel 14 for the breaking channel and 19 for the truckers channel

[@airvicemarshalsirgeorgemas2083]

​@@simonbaldwin69agreed

[@simonappleby4224]

Hey Andy. I still have my Ham international multimode 2 from the 1970s and it still works! I got back into radio about 4 years ago and there's no one about round here. I then went and got my amateur licence and there's no one on 2 metres either. . . Luckily I love DX and remember my first contact into Italy on 27mhz when I was at college and I was hooked. Great hobby and I think that CB was the first platform of social media and the internet sadly took over. The radio looks great. Keep the videos coming. 73's

[@Tyreman22]

I remember breaking down in an old Allegro. It was a cold winters night and the snow was about 6 inches deep. I called for help on channel nine and someone contacted my family by land line. It took about two hours for them to get to me. It’s something I’ll never forget. My handle was the collector back in the eighties.

[@aquatekt1402]

First time on cb was about 1979. My mates dad had one hidden under the seat of his van, remember it was illegal back then.in 81 had a harrier Cbx for Christmas and met my future wife. Later acquired a ssb set and worked the world. In 91 gained ham licence which I now use ,but still hold fond memories of the cb and still occasionally have a go. I do think it will become more popular again but never in the numbers we saw back then. It is a shame the truckers seem to have abandoned it as it was a useful tool for traffic reports etc.

[@JRP80820]

I loved the CB radio back when I was 13 yrs old in 1992, use to speak to my mates after school, an early social network but using radio instead of computers. Great video thanks for posting.👍

[@womblediehard123]

From middle of 1987 to the middle of 1990 I used the CB radio regulary. Met 3 ex girlfriends from just being on the airs in Surrey. Met friends and had great laugh out loud moments on the CB airwaves. I couldn't replicate those days or would I because the memories I will cherish for always. Great video and thank you for sharing.

[@SuffolkSifter]

I started CB with an AM rig in the 70s, fun trying to go undetected.

[@TheBoringOldGamer]

I remember setting up my rig on my bike, with a car battery on the pannier rack, a dx27 mounted on the rear light mount, and the rig on the front light mount. The mike was draped over the handlebars. I used to get a lot of weird looks as I cycled round my home town chatting to people. Good times 😁

[@PaulStrickland]

Is that Matthew who lived in Hitchin?

[@TheBoringOldGamer]

@@PaulStrickland no Paul, I guess there was more than 1 cyclist with the same idea 😀

[@simonbaldwin69]

Oh you lucky bugger! I dreamed of this set setup as a kid, however it wasn’t a dx27 it was a dv27😊

[@sputumtube]

Like most of the other contributors here, I had a couple of CB's in the early 80's. At that time they were all AM (amplitude modulation). It's a vague memory now, but I think my last was a Midland 240M (my little Cobra got stolen out of the car). Fitted into a Fiat 131 Mirafiori using a 'snatch plate' with a Valour Half Breed antenna (whip). The 10-codes were a bugger to learn though!

[@cactushound]

Yup, CB radio was extremely fun when I used to live in Orlando, Florida. I will never forget the Central Florida Sideband Net which met on channel 37 LSB every Saturday night back in the late 1980's, I'm glad to see CB radio hanging in there despite the advent of the internet and affordable cell phones. GMRS radio is now becoming very popular here in the US.

[@W4MBU]

All the internet did was help out CB and also the affordable cell phones you still have to deal with the middleman paying that bill and social media in reality is not really that sociable actually gmrs radio has really taken off and so has CB I'm a ham radio operator ham radio CB and gmrs and I can tell you that for the past few days I've been on CB talking worldwide and have not used by ham radio equipment in the past few days everything has been done on CB even the application Tik Tok is being used to promote CB

[@KarrierBag]

Channel 19 was the truckers channel and 14 was for everyone else when I started I seem to remember

[@ricksanchez3628]

One-nine rig check

[@papalazarou6674]

@@ricksanchez3628 receiving you loud and proud breaker

[@philkfoto]

In my day back in the 60s it was 14 for a copy. I had a CB in my car with an external aerial and another home base and the same setup. We would talk for hours on these both set ups.

[@silvertrain123]

Yes, here in North Yorkshire late 1970's early 80's it was 14 for a a copy and channel 19 was for truckers.

[@jagmarc]

i remember it was "one four for a copy" and voice came back "it's cheating to copy" or something Then at early hours in morning 14 went dead and in towns that had a motorway near them switched to 19 to talk to a bored trucker going past

[@simonblandford1002]

It's a shame 14 fell out of favour around 1982-ish as being the calling channel. Having a separate "mobile users" channel 19 was a neat idea if only it had stuck.

[@jagmarc]

@@simonblandford1002 how it was used before legalised that set the convention for 14. During daytime hours only truckers used 19 and they didn't want talk to fixed homebase rigs because of the skip made every conversation too short. So why separate 14 non-trucker calling channel, that convention carried through to legal CB along with other calling channels 8 for women's, 9 for gay, etc etc

[@jagmarc]

When it changed from AM to FM that dramatically changed the culture and mode of operation, and the peculiar thing is many the conventions from AM needed out of utility, got carried through to legal CB and practiced like a religion!

[@EdzashedFudwinkle]

Was from watching yours & Lewis's videos on the T-X that i decided tk recently purchase 1, even if its only to use once a blue moon, compare it with the Midland Portapak 27-805, old v new. Great video, 👋 Mrs K, pleasure to meet you 🙂

[@pootle5096]

Kept us entertained after lights out at boarding school back in the early 80's.... Truckers happy to chat! :-)

[@user-lw9zb7vf3w]

Channel 14 is for Breaking and you chose to use channel 9 which is the Emergency only channel. I've used CB for many years and still use occasionally. Personally I don't find it getting more common.

[@Nightcrawler666]

I had my 1st CB in my bedroom in 1981 when it became legal. FM. It was a great part of my life. I still have the books in the loft of who I talked to what poundage they were hitting me on "yea your blowing my windows out c'mon" 😂what their 20 was & all that. As things progresses I joined a CB club. Where met up every week. Thinking about it now its pretty insane. You couldn't let your kids do that these days. As soon as I started driving trucks in 91 I had a CB. I then passed HGV 1 in 92 & went abroad for 4-6 weeks at a time. Every truck had a CB. Years later. 2008 to be exact I put a CB I found in the loft in my F350 Super Duty. I thought it is broken from sitting in the loft for years. Went and bought a new one & the same. Dead as a door nail. As in nobody on it at all. One night on my way to Scotland I just left it turned on with squelch up a bit. All of a sudden ooop north I almost jumped out of my seat as I heard a guy on there. I had a brief chat as I passed his town. He was almost as excited as I was. I still have a couple, but don't use them. Good video. I like the way your Mrs was humouring your excitement and getting involved. That was nice to see. 10 10 good buddy.

[@rsmickeymooproductions4877]

I have still got my NATO 2000 from the good old days. I had loads of offers for it but I cannot bear to let it go. So many great memories

[@rippy123456]

Great memories. 1982, I was 13 at the time and had a Midland 401 with a Wotpole aerial on the side of the house. It was pretty good too considering it was totally legal. Silver Rod was the one to get though. Those eyeball cards were good as well, some great designs as I remember.

[@williamj.sheehan2001]

Rippy, I'd forgotten about the "QSL" cards! That aspect alone was super fun!

[@ontariocbclub]

Great video as always.. amazing how many people comment here about how nice cb radio used to be. Well it still is and we make sure to keep cb radio alive. 73's from Toronto.!!

[@HATCHETHAS]

Great memories of pinching scaffold poles to put the Sigma 4 on, had a Silver Rod as well two quality twigs.

[@papalazarou6674]

God I miss the rig good the old days Going for an eyeball to find out you've been chatting up a minger for three months 😂😂😂

[@andykirby]

😅😅😅😅👆🏼👆🏼👆🏼👆🏼 this!!!!😅😅😅😅

[@philipgilligan_art]

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😊

[@simonaldridge6133]

Hands up who had a mobile antenna on a biscuit tin 😂 😂

[@andykirby]

YES!!!!

[@dangerman01582]

Yes 🤣. DV27 in the loft

[@simonaldridge6133]

Mine was a FIRESTIK

[@EdzashedFudwinkle]

Lid was screwed into the attic eves, tin foil sheets hanging down, pointing the same direction as the antenna, but in a little countryside village, it worked great.

[@BLUEX2022]

WHO REMBERS THE TOADSTALL OVER IN BRIGHTON anybody 😂that's me 😊

[@nigelsheridan6229]

My first CB was from Tandy, a Realistic something or other, 40 channels FM only and barely enough power to make it to the end of the street with a good wind behind it. Got a midland one for my first car which was much better and lasted well into the late 1990's. Now have the Randy 3, what a difference 20 years make with the quality of the rigs these days.

[@PhilMozchops1974]

I had mine from Tandy too it was a Harrier if I remember rightly.good times.

[@TheMuddatrucker]

@@PhilMozchops1974 yep me too, a portable midland with telescopic antenna from Tandy in meadowhall the first year it opened. Them were the days 😢 I’ve said for the last 10 years or so we should all have a cb radio, way things are going I don’t think it’d take much to collapse the mobile phone network in the U.K. when you look what an over exaggerated bat flu can do!

[@777sLc1]

I miss tandy

[@roygifford2794]

Fantastic windup back in the 80s my handle was lighting my mate like roadrunner chopper and snowballs great times 1/4 do you copy what twigg up pushing to much swelch nose 😂😂

[@edwardbyard6540]

I got a Midland 2001 rig from a car boot aged about 13, Dad was a shortwave listener so helped me rig up a half wave. Made loads of friends on the rig, Channel 19 was always busy and channel 39 was Monday night Swap Shop where people would buy and sell stuff. Lots of eyeballs, loads of fun. I often wonder what it's like these days.

[@JimblobYork]

I used to love my CB. Used to have a silver rod strapped to the chimney. Everyone’s TV used to go off whenever you keyed your mic. 😂 I’ve got a Randy 3 coming today.

[@tomKZ8TOM]

10-4 good buddy! When I think of CB, I imagine a Burt Reynolds mustache from Smokey and the Bandit movie 😂

[@marty68wt248]

First cb radio was vice president Roy 40 ch AM. Then got a pulser 800, then ham international jumbo. Thanks for posting, great little handheld. 73s from 68WR048 in Co Antrim N. Ireland good bud.

[@derekgibson6191]

As a kid in the very early 80’s my parents owned a hotel. The regulars all had CB’s in their cars and one night a week a fox hunt would be organised where a CB owner would go out into the country side and hide. They would press the trigger on their mic to send a signal and then all the other CB owners would hunt them down. Favourite films in the bar on a Sunday were Smokey and the Bandit and Convoy. Then in the very late 80’s early 90’s myself and all my friends all had CB’s in their cars. A load of us usually in 5 cars or so would drive up North of Aberdeen to a friends parents hotel in Lhanbryde using the CB’s to guide each other up the road advising when no cars were coming towards us and over takin in places where we should not of. Great days indeed. Then late 90’s the CB times ended. Mostly because farmers used them in tractors etc.

[@zeebrook]

Brings back many memories. I use to have my antenna on a biscuit tin and worked quite well, as well as taking the rig out it on the road. Brill for going to different towns and getting directions.

[@indianna5649]

Hi Andy. Cb is very much still very popular. In my area Bolton we use AM channel 6 midband. We talk to the yanks all the time. My set up is a cobra 148 gtl dx amplifier is a cp-163-11 4 element yagi. . Never got bored of cb even after getting my full licence on ham radio. Currently building a 1k Watts amp at 60v from a server psu. Keep up the good work Andy love your vids. 26tm176 John 73,s

[@spickernow]

Love the video all power to resurrecting use of CB in the UK.. I started back in 81 when cb first started under the call sign Paperclip. I then moved on to amatuer 2m. My interest has been re-awoken.... Hope to hear some day down here in Cornwall!!.

[@chrisclegg7156]

I still have my Midland 100m in the loft somewhere I used to run on a DV27 antenna,that was before they brought in CB27 81 .😊

[@stevemason5348]

Good old days, My first C.B. was a Midland 2000 on A.M. back in 1978, worked my way up to a sideband radio, had a 7 foot red firestick in the middle of the boot on an old Jag I had, brings back great memories

[@TheRogey1]

I had a Red firestick on top of a mini metro..magmount..couldn't go too fast😅

[@stevemason5348]

@@TheRogey1 rabbits ears?

[@stevemason5348]

Rabbits eras were 2 arials on one mount in a V shape

[@vauxaholic]

Omg cb radio was a great time, used to go down Southend gravel pit, had a cobra 148 in my car at the time

[@nickcox8049]

I remember as a teenager I had a sigma 4 up a tree 🎄 behind the house. And it's was a very impressive set up. Until one day in 1986 the DTI turned up and told to take down. A amateur radio operator at time reported me to them. I was only 14 years old. Good while it lasted. You can still buy the same aerial today but it is 30 feet tall with a basket on the bottom. Never mind.

[@ukstreetfishing]

Awesome memories my call sign was barney bear there's was loads on back then 👍

[@yojomojo6262]

My dad was an avid CBer back in the 80's, I have very fond memories from back then when he started on the illeagal AM systems then it was legalized. I had my own handle and my dad even set up a CB club at a local pub that was based fairly high up semi rural so was great for distance. Had such great times as a child and great friendships. It was a great way to make friends as well. I may even think of getting back into it after seeing this My dad had the fire stick aerial on his car and then the K40. Happy days missed so dearly

[@allanp9947]

Me and a few mates still use the cb to have a bit daft banter with each other around the doors here in the north east uk 👍👍👍👍

[@stefosters]

1993 when I was at high school, me and all my mates had midland or uniden riggs, either a car battery or power pack as power, and convinced parents to put a silver rod on the house. I was reaching 25-30 miles over to Blackpool. Many happy memories. Thinking about taking up ham radio lately.

[@Lewis_T]

In the mid-late 80’s all my high school buddies installed CBs in our cars/trucks to talk n plan on partying on weekends and keep up with where we were going for fun. Everyone used them in my deer camp to communicate while running dogs and such. I miss those days. And before police encrypted their comms, I had a police scanner in my car. While we’d all be out drag racing we’d listen for the calls to come in, and new when to trailer the cars and get out of there. Then cell phones came out and took away the need for all our CBs. Those were the days.

[@Thinks-First]

3:52 Helen doesn't getting. It's not the conversation, it's HOW the conversation occurs. The magic of radio. A gift from God.

[@glenjarnold]

Still got my first CB from 1981 - a Colt 210 AM, and my first FM set from the same year - a Binatone 5 Star. Both still work great although I very rarely use them now as there's nobody on around here.

[@ukgamer9363]

(on the side) lol snap i still have my rotel 240 with modded in mid band as they called it back then,my mate had the 5 star too lol. in the late 70s i bought a stalker (forgot what model) imported via back of a lorry from usa. had usb and lsb, used to be great listning to that. it only had 23 channels and old wooden teak effect,

[@tonytheantony]

...In the early days Midland 3001 as a base station, with huge bean pole in the back garden made by my Big Bro, (Handle back in the day was Green Hippo, mine was Golden Eagle). Had CH14 back then so it was " 1-4 for a coffee!" 😂 Had a Cybernet Beta 3000 with mag mount, in my original Mini, reg D70 UPN...Mini is still out there somewhere too, CB kit was also sold years ago. Met my first girlfriend on CB too!🤣 Glad I grew up at school, into late teens with CB instead of today's social media.👍👍🇬🇧

[@edwardharrington678]

I used to be a self employed courier driver drove a VW 10 CWT Caddy all over the UK and I had a CB Radio fitted because if there was a problem on the motorways you got the info from truckers quicker than local radio stations and 9 times out of 10 I got off the motorway to avoid the hold ups. On top of that I had some good conversations with HGV drivers who would laugh when I told them I was driving a skateboard which refers to cars and small vans.

[@peterellis4705]

Hi Andy I have got some good memories of cb, I met my wife through the cb bad memories I got busted on Reigate hill I took a scaffold pole and a gpa strapped to a 5 bar gate I had a Maxcom 4e and a 45w burner was doing great then the police arrived apparently I was knocking out the police in north London oops I had no idea and would have not done it intentionally they confiscated the burner and I got fined £250 which was quite a lot then it didn't put me off cb great times made a lot of friends, keep up the good work Andy.

[@EzyR1der]

I had an old midland 40 channel cb radio with an echo mic. When I first set it up I was using an old metal coat hanger as an aerial until my new one turned up. It worked well.

[@user-qc5xt4pg9m]

I remember back filling up in a garage and the cb came over the garage speakers we used to have meets and had to disperse quickly when the police started to turn up and what a load of friends we made at that time we still have the same radios today using them in the tractors

[@pauledwards3833]

great times they were i had my baracuda 80 channel fm, breaking in the chester area (walled city) i had my short nose henry then (ford escort) my handle was blue boy back then still got a cb in the shed still try and use but sadly no one seems to on the air anymore but great days mate keep the vids coming

[@blowduke]

Me and mates had them in the cars in the early 80s only way we could talk no mobile phones , had a pa speaker as well so lots of fun with that to

[@Henri_P]

My patents also had CB radios. One at home (countryside) as a base station with big antenna. Other were on cars as a mobile. With neighbours working at forest were able to communicate and exchange information. On that time we had only 22 channel radios and amplitude and frequency modulations (AM/FM). During sunspot activity we got connections all over the globe, it was exciting! But when I moved to study into high school, parents also left farming. But I got personally interested about radios and communication. So I got HAM license (but no radio hw) and went to tech university to study telcomm. And then we got internet... until recently I got interested about radios again.

[@Thinks-First]

CB is a great introduction to the magic of radio. Cellphones just don't do it. After CB, people really stricken with the radio bug can move to HAM. I did that when I was 16. Has served me my whole life.

[@t_h_visuals]

I used to be part of the Pink Panther DX club down in the Channel Islands, I used to have a CB shack in my bedroom with various aerials all over the house. You used to be able to DX well with a wet noodle and CB radio back in the 80s. I used to get DX cards from all over the world. You’ve inspired me, I’m going to have to buy one!

[@alzeNL]

cool contact on AM with the antenna :D impressive. Good advice on just getting on - i must admit i got my station setup and I just listen and scan around at the moment :D I've just ordered the T-X radio from Thunderpole and am looking forward to using it with my son - hopefully people will hear us and we can get some more people on the air back on CB :D

[@musoseven8218]

I used to have a Rotel RVC 240 iirc, (FM) and a Cobra 148GTLDX (Sideband & AM), plus a burner and half wave di-pole etc. Happier times on the whole, good friends made too. Back in the day it was "14 for a copy" then select a channel to go to, iirc, if a trucker it was "19 for a copy" then move to a channel. By and large no one hogged either 14 or 19. Thunderpole vehicle/home base starter kits look great value too🤔👍✌️💜

[@littlefishy6316]

Saw a CB ariel on a car recently, wondered if CB on way back, makes sense given the car scene

[@garethjohnstone9282]

Good vid. Ive been thinking of getting into this. I had a rig in 95. Massive antenna and could speak to people quite a distance away. Met some local girls and met up in a field. We were only 13 lol.

[@MrBobWareham]

I used to love CB radio, it was good fun in Bournemouth, Dorset, many years ago, but we all had aerials on the roof to get the long range, many hours spent talking to others many miles away, thanks for the video BigBob out

[@andycarless9069]

I Still Own My First Cb From 1978 A Commtron IV & Still Mint 👌Also A Cobra 148 mk2 Still Mint In The Box 👌👌

[@user-sz6kt5th3b]

Good old days on cb radio still got my cb radio plus my dear dad's radios now he has passed on

[@zeb3144]

I had one in the early 80's when i was a kid. Cant remember the make but started off with a mag mount stuck to a biscuit tin then progressed to a wall mounted ariel bolted to side of parents house. Had lots of fun with it and made a lot of friends. Happy care free days.

[@Curtis66]

Had loads of fun back in the early 1980tys I lived in Waltham Cross Hertfordshire next to the newly built m25 junction 25 we used to talk to the truckers happy days

[@kazcat8096]

I had good times on the cb back in the 70's in Germany i could hear the truck drivers in the us i only had 4w am So never got back to them i am a ham these days but never forget my love for cb

[@johnmeddows8960]

Hello, Andy. Even with a 40db pre-amp, not one English voice on CB down here on the south coast on the old UK frequencies. Mids, packed out with the whole of the northern hemisphere, and even a bit of the south. Did try on FM to get a radio check, but nothing. Back to listening to short-wave. Good to see you've got a few friends to chat to up there.

[@allsortsabouteverything]

That loop antenna is a good thing. However the way you were using it put you in horizontal polarization. You need to have the loop facing in the flat horizontal plane to give you vertical polarization.

[@thomasmaughan4798]

"You need to have the loop facing in the flat horizontal plane to give you vertical polarization." Another example of KZbin misinformation. Here's another opinion. "Thus mounting the loop in a horizontal plane will produce an omnidirectional antenna which is horizontally polarized; mounting the loop vertically yields a vertically polarizated, weakly directional antenna, but with an exceptionally sharp nulls along the axis of the loop" en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loop_antenna

[@petervisser4910]

Good memories had a cb in the 80s in Holland and had contacts in Italy and Spain, got caught a couple of times but got a new one every time. But great fun with same minded enthusiasts.

[@tony5006]

Remember the Formac 120 rig. I had one, 3 x 40 channel levels with AM and FM. It had a horrible "Roger Beep" which soon got removed.

[@kibblenbits]

Everyone needs to get one. We're going to need them.

[@djrichylaurence8991]

I loved the old cb radios. Used to have a great laugh with my mates on there and loved 'fox hunting' on the weekends. Think i had a Cobra am/fm rig with a quarter wave twig mounted on the gutter of my house lol. We used channel 14 for calling.

[@smash7777-]

Some of the “handles” were brilliant! 😂

[@mwhi475]

I used to have a CB walkie talki in 1988, nothing special, with a rubber duck. Under normal circumstances, the range was about the same as the one in this video. But with direct line of sight and no obsticles, the range was 2-3 miles, or perhaps a bit furher. We took it to the South of France that year in August, when radio skip was at its height. Radio skip is caused by ionization in the upper atmophere and can bounce even week radio signals thousands of miles. Whilst down there, I managed to contact CB enthusiasts in the UK, one in Scotland and one in Cornwall. The huge distances involved made quite a stir and others were queing up to speak to me. Eventually, I exchanged addresses with the CB station in Cornwall and sent him a postcard. I kept the return postcard from him for many years.

[@dobythedog]

My first experience was us going into a CB shop in Milton Keynes (which didn't sell CB rigs, no siree. They sold aerials only, honest guv). where the man took out an illegal CB from under the counter and handed the contraband over to my brother's friend. We drove round for a few hours making contact with others. It was all very cloak and dagger. Great fun.

[@shawng5799]

Sigma 4 on the house roof and a Cobra 148 with a burner. I used to have people abroad complaining I was stamping on them. Happy days!

[@robertmeyer4744]

That a great HT. I got one in the US. use it all the time. I took a very long telescopic antenna measured 11 meters 1/4 wave tuned it and put on HT . hard to hold but got out great. I did clip a counterpoise wire and drop it to ground. better tune. 73's USA ,NY

[@Mind-your-own-beeswax]

Started back in the AM days with a couple of Cobra units finishing with the Cobra 148 GTL-DX. Went to FM with various sets like the Rotel 240, York 863 and Midland 2001 on a Sigma 4 huge twig on the rear wall. Went back on in the 90s with. Hi-gain 5 and then a Tristar 777 but in general it was shite. Very few people out there.

[@johnboy1973]

In 1981 it used to be Channel 9 for emergency, 14 was the norm for general calling and 19 was the mobiles general calling. Still got my Uniden rig and handheld unit with a 2 foot plus telescopic aerial takes 10 AA batteries and is chunk as hell. Good days though.

[@ThePstorm]

Great video Andy. Still have my Harvard 410 T handset in the garage. That was 2 Watts back in the day. Thunderpole TX is 4 watts? Love CB. Back in the day i had a centre load modulator drilled through the roof of my first car. Midland 77-104, Zetagi B150. Best contact was Jersey (from Cambridge) Still have my old Stalker 9 in the loft. Happy days !

[@alanhiggins1093]

I’m glad you did a video on this radio I saw this advertised a few weeks back still trying to make up my mind about getting it definitely looks good.

[@reynoldspc]

Thanks for sharing this Andy, I'm getting close to hitting the "buy now" button! We're all on ch 40 ukfm in West Lothian. Hopefully catch you if the skip's running. Paul (Gasman)

[@Thegeordiemonkey]

I was on in the 70s, 80s and early 90s, virtually loads of folk on them when i was a kid, great going out in my pals car going on eyeballs, met good friends, women and loonies everywhere.

[@quentinbush]

I remember my first cheap 'rig' powered off a 12v car battery next to my bed in the early 80's. Its output wasn't much to talk about even using a 25w burner until one day I bought a Sigma4 twig and mounted it on a superb ground plane. The SWR dropped to less than 1 and it used to bleed over everyone in my area on 1/4 watt output. My mum used to call me from home, I was in the car miles away and everyone else on frequency just disappeared, my clock on the bedroom table was so crisp, in fact the quality of the modulation was like our local FM radio stations of today. This proved a properly tuned aerial was far better than exceeding the legal output power to reach longer distances. Those were the days, I fancy starting again now despite being in my later years.

[@thomasmaughan4798]

"The SWR dropped to less than 1" I love it when CB'ers talk nonsense. It is impossible for SWR to go below 1. That simply means you are matched. If you are not matched, as for instance your 50 ohm radio output is equally mis-matched going into a 25 ohm antenna or a 100 ohm antenna.

[@quentinbush]

Yes, I realise now it's a silly SWR reading. The station was well matched hence little power needed to swamp others on the same frequency.

[@dexta1969]

Love my Randy and I have the same telescopic antenna too. That Thunderpole looks a good wee handheld, I'd buy one but I'm not sure I'd use it instead of the Randy. But if I wanted to do car to car comms I'd consider it

[@soulthatcreates]

When I was maybe 8ish years old, some time around 1990, I had a mobile 'Realistic' CB rigged up on my bicycle with a stack of D cell batteries duct taped together LOL!

[@jagmarc]

In my home town was a guy who used a handheld CB in his groundfloor flat to monitor the 'distress channel' for REACT. When it was his watch anyone calling distress had first catch a bus or drive to near his street otherwise wouldn't be in range

[@MrRichard57000]

That would be a real dissapointment if something realy happend???omg What stands react for???

[@jagmarc]

@@MrRichard57000 I think REACT is still going today it's a USA(?) charity run by and for disabled people or something.

[@MrRichard57000]

@@jagmarc no clue...im from the netherlands btw...i check it out!!!

[@MopH3ad]

Remember CB ? Its never stopped.

[@bobcheckley6802]

I thought CB radio had long died with advent of mobile phones and the internet. I had a cb back in the day early 1980's in west london living i a block of flats think it was a midland not sure of the model number and there was quite a bunch of us in my local and there was this guy and his handle was Buffalo 1 and he was the guy you went to for any repairs and i remember his house was a mess bike engines in various states of repair in his living room great guy we used to get together in his house with other cb'ers for a chat and a few beers, great memories back in the day. Do people still use handles for there radio names? Great to hear that there is still a following for cb radio.

[@Patrickjdee66]

Hi Andy , I bought a couple of days ago and loving it, possibly the best handheld CB out there , best wishes mate 🎉

[@THUNDERPOLETV]

Great to hear 👍

[@petejones1957]

Next July when the sunspot maxima occurs you should easily be able to have trans attantic contacts on CB frequencies ( using the US frequencies of course) Back in the day we used to convert CB radios to the 10 metre FM amateur band ( only a few like the ICOM 1050 with non standard PLL chip could be done), with an offset for repeater use. It was great fun, I remember talking to someone in Derby from Sheffield through a repeater in Atlanta Georgia, using 4 watts and a DV27 mobile whip, happy days!,

[@markstockley4097]

We've been speaking to Canada and USA on top end of 26mhz and through MidBlock and also Muppet band since USA legalized FM. The Skip picks up around October then drops off Feb/March time yearly to North America. The 11 year suncycle has been picking up and helping out for a few years now,but it also k nocks the band dead for days on the negative side of things.

[@Thinks-First]

In the US channel 19 was always the "truckers" channel. Usually the most active. The thirties were routinely used for QSOs with SSB

[@nicktheegg]

Nice to watch. I had a Harrier 40 channel CB in the early 80's. And yes, I'm sure it was 1 4 for a copy (channel 14). Great memories. Anyhow, thanks for the video, all the best.

[@davidausten5691]

I used to go to a CB club as a kid when I lived in Germany (Dad was in the Army) - don't remember much from those days other than we used to go to meets and swap cards (QSL cards I think they were?). Also recall we were limited on what bands and frequencies we were allowed to use compared to the UK.

[@guruoo]

Takes me back to days in the 60's when we neighborhood kids were using 100mw walkie talkies that could barely make it across the street. Mine was a Royce 3 channel crystal set, that I may still actually have. Somewhere. Next I conned my dad into letting me pick up a Lafayette Comstat 23a and a a/s ground plane antenna. Not too hard a sell, as his interest came from having served as Navy Chief that worked WWII coms out of Cuba (of all places). Thanks, Andy! Enjoyed the wayback!

[@scottwiseman8015]

Got my call sign in 1972 as a Merit Badge in Boy Scouts, for RADIO-TELEPHONY 👍✌️ KZS-0130 My first radio was a Radio Shack 3 channel (6 crystals) with a 1/4 wave Tandy antenna. 👍 Boy, I was the big man in our Troop. It's been an awful lot of fun. Pop's always said, "The difference between men and boys, was the cost of their toys." Love your videos Sir, and your music. Be safe and God bless. 73's from 107 The Village Idiot Big D 27.4200 Dallas, Texas